The first day of the new trading week saw stocks finishing slightly higher with the All Ordinaries index (XAO) rising by 0.3pct or 15pts to 4429.5. The miners led the rise with the S&P/ASX 200 Materials index gaining by 1.05pct or 121.8pts to 11755.6.

Volume traded on the market has remained quite thin today ahead of the 2nd quarter earnings season which kicks off tonight with America's largest aluminum producer, Alcoa (AA) expected to post earnings after US market close (early tomorrow morning).

Industrial and specialty chemicals company, Orica (ORI) fell 5.61pct or $1.44 to $24.24 after the demerger from Dulux (DLX) today. DLX listed at $2.5 and closed 1.1pct higher than the listing price at $2.54.

A report last Thursday revealed that China's iron ore output fell by 27pct in 2009 and that China is the world's 3rd largest producer, behind both Australia and Brazil. BHP Billiton (BHP) shares rose 0.47pct or 18cents to $38.61 whilst RIO Tinto (RIO) gained 0.98pct or 67cents to $68.77.

Our banks ended the day slightly higher with 3 of the 4 largest banks finishing stronger. Westpac (WBC) rose 0.54pct or 12cents to $22.32 and received a broker upgrade.

The industrials, healthcare and consumer staples finished weaker today by between around 0.25pct to 0.75pct.

The retailers managed to edge mostly higher today however clothing retailer Billabong (BBG) fell by 0.77pct or 7cents to $9.03 after acquiring a North American retailer called RVCA.

Australia's largest construction company, Leighton Holdings (LEI) finished flat after winning a US$40 million contract in India.

Gambling and entertainment company, Tabcorp Holdings (TAH) rose 0.31pct or 2cents to $6.49 and announced that $123 million was spent on World Cup betting with TAB Sportsbet.

On the economic front, housing finance figures were released this morning in addition to credit card numbers and the national average petrol price.

Home lending rose only modestly by 1.9pct in May after hitting 9-year lows in April. Credit card balances rose by $14.60 to $3248.60 in May making the average credit card balance around 5pct higher than on a year ago. The average petrol price fell by 0.9cents to 127.6c/litre.

Commsec's Chief Economist, Craig James said that "There have been some subtle shifts in consumer land. Consumers are keeping a little more debt outstanding on their credit cards - nothing substantial, but average balances are edging higher. And at the same time Aussie consumers are starting to use their credit cards a bit more when making purchases while making slightly less use of debit cards."

Mr James went on to say that "The Reserve Bank has received further justification for its decision to leave interest rate settings on hold in the shape of the latest home loan figures. The housing market has softened markedly in response to higher interest rates and the withdrawal of government stimulus and clearly the issue can be removed from the Reserve Bank's "wall of worry". Earlier in the year firm growth in home prices and strong demand for housing loans unsettled policymakers. But the 'all clear' has now been sounded."

The Australian dollar (AUD) eased slightly today after gaining very strongly over the last week. The AUD gained more than 4pct against the USD over the last 5 sessions, more than 3pct against the EUR and more than 5pct against the JPY. The AUD now buys US87.08c.

The Asian markets were mostly stronger bar the Japanese markets which fell less than 0.5pct today. News was out today predicting that Japan's Prime Minister will lose upper house control in the Japanese Parliament.

The number of shares traded came to 1.53 billion shares, worth $3.39 billion. 568 shares were up, 411 finished weaker and 306 ended unchanged.

At 4.30pm AEST on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the Share Price Index futures contract (SPI) is down 0.21pct or 9pts to 4377.

Dow Jones futures are pointing to a slightly weaker start to trade tonight.

In the US tonight, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke delivers a speech.